Chicago By Night - for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition

$119,039

1,852

Chicago lies at the center of the web that is the American heartland. Tendrils of power, wealth, and reward stretch outward, ensnaring the selfish, greedy, and unwary.

Yet, Chicago attracts its predators, too.

There are creatures that would have the city for their own, spinning their own webs of malice and intrigue. But among the city’s towering skyscrapers and wind-swept streets, who is the spider and who is the fly?

Chicago By Night, an updated edition of White Wolf’s bestselling city book, will be Onyx Path Publishing’s first supplement for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition.

In this hardcover supplement, you will find descriptions of most of the Kindred inhabitants of Chicago, complete with 5th Edition writeups; the secret history of Chicago with detailed maps and geographical details; relationship details and factions; and dozens of encounters organized by theme, which provide Storytellers a means to make the setting come alive for the players.

Illustration by Adrian Majkrzak

Originally released in 1991, the first Chicago by Night was an iconic release for Vampire: The Masquerade, establishing format and style for many supplements to follow. In addition to a revised Second Edition version, the book had many supplements that introduced important characters and stories to the lore of Vampire: The Masquerade.

This Chicago By Night Kickstarter is designed to enable us to create a prestige hardcover edition designed to sit proudly alongside Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition core book.

We want to create an 8.5” x 11” hardcover with a beautifully designed, full-color cover image featuring the Windy City. We estimate the book to be more than 240+ pages, with a full-color interior and endpapers on high-quality paper stock.

Chicago By Night includes all the information you need to build ongoing chronicles. From courtly intrigue within the Masquerade to confrontations at the Succubus Club, this setting sourcebook will help Storytellers develop rich and rewarding tales of excess set in the Windy City.

It also includes information and game rules for the Lasombra, introducing the clan into Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition.

Illustration by Mirko Failoni

Chapters include:

Introduction

The World of Chicago (Local Metaplot)

Welcome to the Night

The City (History, Politics, Geography)

Chicago's Kindred

Coteries

Clan Lasombra

The Disciplines of Clan Lasombra

Loresheets

The Chicago Chronicles

Illustration by Amy Wilkins

Throughout this Kickstarter campaign, we will be posting sneak peek previews of sections of the Chicago By Night manuscript as backer-only updates.

The main focus and goal of this Kickstarter campaign is to create the best version of Chicago By Night that is possible. Your support allows us to fund the best production, use the most appropriate components, and possibly even contract more art for the book. We hope to not only deliver a beautiful hardcover book to all of our backers, but also fund at least one print run to be sold through distribution and into the book and hobby stores that are so vital to our community.

Illustration by Amy Wilkins

Beyond that primary goal, we hope to gain additional funding to explore more of the secret city of Chicago and the American Midwest, expanding into rules companions and other Storyteller accessories. The greater our funding for this project, the more resources we are able to create to explore the world hidden in the shadows.

Thirdly, we want to celebrate the shared legacy of Vampire: The Masquerade and Onyx Path, hopefully adding opportunities to explore past releases, historical texts, and related products. These opportunities will allow backers to revisit concepts and ideas from the past even as we move forward with the new edition.

Beyond all the campaign-specific goals, we hope to do what our games have always done — open a path to a new world; a setting for our community to build new stories and engage imaginations. Every person who participates in this campaign is joining with the goal of bringing this book out of the shadows into the light — and like our protagonists, exploring the dark places and learning the secrets of the city. When you back this project, you join our coterie and we journey into Chicago together.

All participants who would like to make this project happen can pledge their support and add to the overall campaign total. If the campaign meets the funding target ($40,000), then we will have funded the project and it will become a reality. Your pledge will only be collected if we achieve our funding target.

In thanks for your support, we offer rewards based on your level of funding pledged. The Reward Tiers down the right side of the page outline the various rewards reflecting various levels of support pledged. Please note that rewards may automatically add additional charges to cover shipping expenses.

To help simplify matters, the basic reward chart lists the core reward and then combinations with each of the additional rewards offered as part of this campaign (see Reward Descriptions, below). Additional options and rewards may be introduced as the campaign progresses — we’ll update this chart as needed throughout the campaign.

Embrace the choice: do you stay in the shadows with the digital PDF version only, or step out into the world with the Hardcover + PDF reward? Please note that physical rewards may automatically add additional charges to cover shipping expenses.

Illustration by Mirko Failoni

Backers looking to receive multiple copies should also note the Blood Bond and Coterie Reward Tiers, which offer two or five copies respectively as part of the rewards (and may save on shipping per unit!)

Finally, we love retailers, but modern publishing methods don’t always make it easy for them to get books into their stores. With this Chicago By Night campaign, we have created a special Reward Tier just for you. Any retailer who pledges at the Retailer Reward Tier level (“Succubus Club”) will get five copies of the hardcover book and PDF at a retail-specific discount so that they can sell in their store.

Illustration by Mark Kelly

THE CHICAGO FOLIO - an in-character artifact book compiling diary entries, transcripts, emails, and other treasures to use in the course of a V5 chronicle, especially useful when utilizing the characters and plots from Chicago by Night. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night PDF will automatically have a PDF version of the Chicago Folio added to their rewards list. The Chicago Folio is being expanded via Stretch Goal achievements. So far, we've added:

The Camarilla Record

The Anarch Accounts

Independent and Mortal Perspectives

Heretical threats and Observations

LET THE STREETS RUN RED - a PDF supplement set in and around the Chicago and Midwest area, incorporating characters absent from V5 Chicago by Night and exploring the activities of Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and the rural Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana areas. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night hardcover will automatically have a PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red added to their rewards list. (PDF-only backers can add this reward by increasing their Total Pledge Amount by +$10, see Add Ons, below). Chronicles are being added via Stretch Goal achievements. So far, we've added:

The first chronicle, set in the throbbing heart and ruined suburbs of Chicago

BECKETT'S JYHAD DIARY PDF - Beckett's Jyhad Diary serves as the definitive book of setting and plot for Vampire: The Masquerade, containing 30 chapters spanning different geographical regions, encountering vampires of every clan, profiling obscure and profound segments of the mythology, and providing countless story hooks on every page. Available as an Add On Reward.

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE 5th EDITION CORE BOOK - Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Core Book, the new edition that honors the deep story of the original, advancing the metaplot from where it left off and detailing exactly what has happened in the world of the Kindred up until tonight.

PRINCE'S GAMBIT CARD GAME - Prince's Gambit is a casual card game where each player is a vampire called to the court of the vampiric Prince of the city. Players must cooperate to gain the favor of the Prince while deducing who among them are secretly the traitorous Sabbat infiltrators.

ACCESS TO MANUSCRIPT SNEAK PEEK UPDATES — During the course of the campaign, we will be posting the several sneak peeks at sections of the Chicago By Night manuscript. These previews will be shared via Backer-Only updates on a regular basis. You must be a backer of this project to receive these updates.

OPTIONAL “AT COST” PoD VERSION — All PDF products will be fulfilled through our partners at DriveThruRPG.com, the largest RPG download store. For Chicago By Night for Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition, you will have the option of using DriveThruRPG’s Print-On-Demand service to purchase a physical, printed copy directly from their PoD partners at as close as we can get to the cost of printing and shipping (this cost is not included in your pledge, and you do not need to increase the cost of your pledge to use this option). When the PoD versions are available to order (which will be some time after the hardcover has gone to print), you will receive links to purchase these versions of the book from DriveThruRPG.com. You DO NOT need to take advantage of this PoD offer as it does not affect in any way your pledge rewards.

Illustration by Amy Wilkins

In addition to the rewards listed in each Reward Tier, backers can increase their overall pledge to add on the following additional rewards. Simply increase your total pledge amount by the value indicated — we will confirm which Add-On Rewards you’ve chosen via BackerKit surveys after the campaign has run.

Illustration by Mirko Failoni

Additional Add-On Rewards may be unlocked as Stretch Goals throughout the campaign. This section will be updated as we add new rewards..

Add +$10 to your Total Pledge Amount to add a PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red to your reward list. This Add On is available to all backers already receiving the Chicago By Night PDF as part of their rewards list. Note – If you have the hardcover version of Chicago By Night as part of your reward tier, this has already been added to your rewards list via Stretch Goal. Add On Rewards will be confirmed via Backerkit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Add +$20 to your Total Pledge Amount to add an additional copy of the Chicago By Night digital PDF version to your rewards list. Add-On Rewards will be confirmed via BackerKit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Add +$24.99 to your Total Pledge Amount to add the Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Core Bookdigital PDF version to your rewards list. Add-On Rewards will be confirmed via BackerKit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Add +$45 to your Total Pledge Amount to add an additional copy of the Chicago By Night hardcover print version to your rewards list. For U.S residents only — you must already have a copy of the hardcover book as part of your pledge tier rewards list. Add-On Rewards will be confirmed via BackerKit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Add +$65 to your Total Pledge Amount to add an additional copy of the Chicago By Night hardcover print version to your rewards list. For non-U.S. residents only — you must already have a copy of the hardcover book as part of your pledge tier rewards list. Add-On Rewards will be confirmed via BackerKit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Add +$7 to your Total Pledge Amount to add a PDF Bundle containing classic Vampire Supplements compiled into 3 volumes: Chicago Chronicles 1 PDF, Chicago Chronicles 2 PDF, and Chicago Chronicles 3 PDF. PDF titles are the ones currently available from DrivethruRPG.com and were created as best possible depending on the state of the files. Quality may vary from title to title. Add On Rewards will be confirmed via Backerkit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Add +$6 to your Total Pledge Amount to add a PDF version of Beckett’s Jyhad Diary. All PDFs will be fulfilled by our partners at DrivethruRPG.com. Add On Rewards will be confirmed via Backerkit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Add +$20 to your Total Pledge Amount to add a copy of the card game Prince’s Gambit to your reward list. This is a physical item, and will be shipped with your hardcover copy of Chicago By Night. You must have the Chicago By Night hardcover book as part of your rewards list to select this Add On reward. Add On Rewards will be confirmed via Backerkit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Add +$5 to your Total Pledge Amount to expand your “At Cost” Print On Demand option to include the Chicago Folio. You must already have the Chicago Folio PDF AND the “At Cost” PoD Option included in your rewards list to select this Add On option. Add On Rewards will be confirmed via Backerkit survey after the campaign has concluded.

Illustration by Michael Gaydos

As we increase the overall funding and support for the project, we’re able to add additional resources to the project, expand the rewards listed, and add in new offers and opportunities. Sometimes, we’ll include Stretch Goals simply to allow us to celebrate a funding milestone. Each Stretch Goal will have a target that, once reached, will bring forth a reward from the shadows. We will continue to build on this list when we achieve these targets during the campaign. Whenever we achieve a Stretch Goal, the image will be updated to reflect the achievement

ACHIEVED!! - CHICAGO FOLIO: THE CAMARILLA RECORD – A section will be added to the Chicago Folio, an in-character artifact book compiling diary entries, transcripts, emails, and other treasures to use in the course of a V5 chronicle, especially useful when utilizing the characters and plots from Chicago by Night. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night PDF will automatically have a PDF version of the Chicago Folio added to their rewards list.

ACHIEVED! - CHICAGO FOLIO: THE ANARCH ACCOUNTS – A second section will be added to the Chicago Folio, doubling its size.

Achieved! -LET THE STREETS RUN RED – The first chronicle, set in the throbbing heart and ruined suburbs of Chicago, will be added to Let the Streets Run Red, a PDF supplement set in and around the Chicago and Midwest area, incorporating characters absent from V5 Chicago by Night and exploring the activities of Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and the rural Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana areas. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night hardcover will automatically have a PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red added to their rewards list.

Achieved! -KICKSTARTER BACKER T-SHIRT - hosted on the Redbubble store for a limited time, a Chicago By Night shirt at a steep discount. All backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available.

Achieved! -DIGITAL WALLPAPER: CHICAGO BY NIGHT – An evocative digital wallpaper for your computer desktop featuring the art of Chicago By Night. This digital file will be added to the rewards list for all backers receiving the Chicago By Night PDF.

Achieved! -NEW ADD-ON REWARD: BECKETT’S JYHAD DIARY PDF - A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$6, backers will receive a PDF version of Beckett's Jyhad Diary, documenting the history of the Vampire world up to the latest edition.

Achieved! - LET THE STREETS RUN RED – A second chronicle, set in rural, weird Illinois, will be added to Let the Streets Run Red.

Achieved! -DIGITAL WALLPAPER: BECKETT’S JYHAD DIARY – An evocative digital wallpaper for your computer desktop featuring the art of Beckett’s Jyhad Diary. This digital file will be added to the rewards list for all backers receiving the Chicago By Night PDF.

Achieved! - CHICAGO FOLIO: INDEPENDENT AND MORTAL PERSPECTIVES – A third section will be added to the Chicago Folio, tripling its initially planned size.

Achieved! - NEW ADD-ON REWARD: PRINCE’S GAMBIT CARD GAME – A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$20, backers will receive the Prince’s Gambit card game. Only available to backers receiving the Chicago By Night hardcover book; the card game will be fulfilled as part of the same shipment as the Chicago By Night hardcover book.

Achieved! - DIGITAL WALLPAPER: PRINCE’S GAMBIT – An evocative digital wallpaper for your computer desktop featuring the art of the Prince’s Gambit card game. This digital file will be added to the rewards list for all backers receiving the Chicago By Night PDF.

Achieved! - LET THE STREETS RUN RED – A third chronicle, set to explore the domains of Milwaukee and Indianapolis, will be added to Let the Streets Run Red.

Achieved! - ART BUDGET INCREASE – Additional funds will be allocated to the art budget for Chicago By Night, allowing Onyx Path to include even more awesome art in the city supplement.

Achieved! - CHICAGO-THEMED GAMING GEAR - Dog Might Games will make Chicago By Night-themed gaming gear available for order. Click HERE to see their current Vampire offerings.

Achieved! - LET THE STREETS RUN RED – A fourth and final chronicle will be added to Let the Streets Run Red.

Achieved! - NEW ADD-ON REWARD: VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE 5th Edition Core Book PDF - A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$24.99, backers will receive a PDF version of the Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Core Book, the new edition that honors the deep story of the original, advancing the metaplot from where it left off and detailing exactly what has happened in the world of the Kindred up until tonight.

Achieved! - CHICAGO FOLIO: HERETICAL THREATS AND OBSERVATIONS – A fourth section will be added to the Chicago Folio, including the perspectives of the Church of Caine.

Achieved! - NEW ADD-ON REWARD: LET THE STREETS RUN RED - A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$10, backers will receive the PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red. This Add On is available to Chicago By Night PDF Backers – Note: Chicago By Night hardcover backers will already have this reward automatically added to their rewards list.

Achieved! - NEW ADD-ON REWARD: PoD OPTION FOR CHICAGO FOLIO - A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$5, backers will have the option of using DriveThruRPG’s Print-On-Demand service to purchase a physical, printed copy of the Chicago Folio directly from their PoD partners at as close as we can get to the cost of printing and shipping. You must have the Chicago Folio PDF already included as one of your rewards to add on this reward.

At $120,000 in funding - NEW ADD-ON REWARD: PoD OPTION FOR LET THE STREETS RUN RED - A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$5, backers will have the option of using DriveThruRPG’s Print-On-Demand service to purchase a physical, printed copy of Let the Streets Run Red directly from their PoD partners at as close as we can get to the cost of printing and shipping. You must have the Let the Streets Run Red PDF already part of your rewards list (either automatic or added on) to add on this reward.

At $125,000 in funding - CREATIVE TEAM REWARD – Additional funds will be allocated to pay a bonus to members of the creative team for this project.

Illustration by Mark Kelly

This is Onyx Path Publishing’s 32nd Kickstarter, and the company has learned how to maintain focus during a campaign to maintain manageable projects and achievable goals. To read more about the knowledge that has been applied to this project, you can read the FAQ linked here: http://theonyxpath.com/about/faq/kickstarter/

Risks and challenges

Risk: This game isn't created at all even though the goal is reached.

Solution: We have successfully shipped many Kickstarter projects, and more are headed to completion as you read this. All those projects have taught us how the various pieces of the process work and we have increased our ability to judge the various stages of delivery better with each KS. The text for Chicago By Night is finished and initial interior artwork has been contracted, so the development process is well underway.

Risk: Shipping costs soak up pledges that were meant to enable the creation of the book.

Solution: Kickstarter shipping costs have continued to rise this last year, but we are aware of that and were able to find ways to work with shippers to bring down those costs — unfortunately, only to some extent as we have also needed to up the shipping charges — both methods allowing us to be sure that shipping doesn’t eat up the pledge money supposed to go to printing.

Risk: The game will take a long time to produce and anger the backers.

Solution: We’ve learned many, many lessons with our previous Kickstarters and we’re becoming much better at estimating the various pitfalls that will delay a KS project. We were able to deliver the PDFs for our last several KS projects several months before the estimate, and our recent campaigns have delivered rewards earlier than estimated.

That being said, backers need to be aware that they are enabling a process, and not a pre-order opportunity, and things do sometimes run slower than we want or anticipate with that process. We’ve found that an open flow of communication between us and the backer community is vital so once the project funds we will deliver updates on progress once a month (or more, as needed) via Kickstarter as well as in our regular, weekly, Monday Meeting Notes blog at www.theonyxpath.com

ADDITIONAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

By backing this Kickstarter project, you have agreed to the following additional terms and conditions:

ARTWORK, DESIGN, MATERIAL & CONTENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Onyx Path shares artwork, design, descriptions, and manuscript contents with the understanding that changes may occur in the creation of the final product based on further development, available resources and materials, and the nature of the creative process.

REWARDS REQUIRING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRE TIMELY RESPONSE. Some rewards, particularly limited Special Rewards such as art model descriptions, character names, and custom design work, require input from the reward backer. For these rewards, the backer must respond within 6 weeks of the information being requested (most likely by BackerKit pledge manager survey, occasionally by direct e-mail) in order to maintain the project development and manufacturing timeline. Onyx Path will make a strong effort to acquire this information, but should the backer not provide it in a timely fashion, all parties agree that Onyx Path can move forward on the project without the information or using an appropriate substitution and the respective backer will consider the reward obligation fulfilled in full for payment or donations pledged and collected on the part of Onyx Path. The simple fact is that we cannot delay the production of the product due to an unresponsive backer, that’s just not fair to the others who have supported this project.

ADDRESS CONFIRMATION & DELIVERY OBLIGATIONS. If you confirm your pledge prior to final address confirmation and initiation of distribution notification via email, you agree that our responsibility to you is to ship your order as entered into our pledge manager system, that title and risk passes to you upon delivery to a common carrier for such shipment, and you are responsible for import duties or any other duties that may be payable to the relevant tax authorities, providing correct address information and ensuring this address is deliverable by normal methods. Failure to confirm mailing address prior to final request and distribution notification will be taken as agreement that all obligations have been met and no further action or effort is required on the part of Onyx Path. We will attempt to alert you via the methods provided by Kickstarter and/or BackerKit, primarily e-mail, prior to distribution of rewards to avoid any issue, but once we’ve made all reasonable efforts, we must move on with other business and will be unable to make exceptions.

DIGITAL REWARDS. You will be notified by BackerKit when digital rewards become available to you. Typically, these will be links to load PDF titles into your account library on DriveThruRPG.com. The links from BackerKit must be activated within 90 days to ensure the titles are added to your library, after which the links may expire and Onyx Path may not be able to provide replacements.

If you do not accept these terms, please do not pledge on this project but instead wait for the general release.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $275 or more
About $275

Elder of Renown

As a special reward, you will name an NPC which will be added to an upcoming Chicago By Night supplement. We reserve the right to modify your submission if necessary to conform to appropriateness with the setting.

In addition, as thanks for your support, you will receive a hardcover printed copy of Chicago By Night. Additional shipping charges may apply based on your location.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $400 or more
About $400

Elder of Majesty

As a special reward, you will be an art model for an interior illustration for an upcoming Chicago By Night supplement. You will provide photo references to be used by artists creating artwork to be featured in an upcoming supplement. We reserve the right to modify your submission if necessary to conform to appropriateness with the setting.

In addition, as thanks for your support, you will receive a hardcover printed copy of Chicago By Night. Additional shipping charges may apply based on your location.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

Fate of Capone

As a special reward, you have input into the ultimate fate of Capone, which will be incorporated into an upcoming Chicago By Night supplement. We reserve the right to modify your submission if necessary to conform to appropriateness with the setting.

In addition, as thanks for your support, you will receive a hardcover printed copy of Chicago By Night. Additional shipping charges may apply based on your location.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

Fate of the former Prince Maxwell

As a special reward, you have input into the ultimate fate of the former Prince Maxwell, which will be incorporated into an upcoming Chicago By Night supplement. We reserve the right to modify your submission if necessary to conform to appropriateness with the setting.

In addition, as thanks for your support, you will receive a hardcover printed copy of Chicago By Night. Additional shipping charges may apply based on your location.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

Fate of Eletria

As a special reward, you have input into the ultimate fate of Eletria, which will be incorporated into an upcoming Chicago By Night supplement. We reserve the right to modify your submission if necessary to conform to appropriateness with the setting.

In addition, as thanks for your support, you will receive a hardcover printed copy of Chicago By Night. Additional shipping charges may apply based on your location.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $600 or more
About $600

Primogen

As a special reward, your character will be added to the chronicle and incorporated into an upcoming Chicago By Night supplement. We reserve the right to modify your submission if necessary to conform to appropriateness with the setting.

In addition, as thanks for your support, you will receive a hardcover printed copy of Chicago By Night. Additional shipping charges may apply based on your location.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $800 or more
About $800

Prince

As a special reward, you will act as a Consulting Developer on an upcoming Chicago By Night supplement. You will have the opportunity to see every draft and be copied on every email between developer and writers pertaining to the selected project.

In addition, as thanks for your support, you will receive a hardcover printed copy of Chicago By Night. Additional shipping charges may apply based on your location.